


A Night Out in the City

by Cuddle_Meister



Series: Trips on Gliders are Fun [1]
Category: Avatar: Legend of Korra
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-04-23
Updated: 2012-04-23
Packaged: 2017-11-04 04:03:12
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,168
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/389537
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Cuddle_Meister/pseuds/Cuddle_Meister
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Jinora takes a flight to Republic City and meets a very interesting boy.</p>
            </blockquote>





	A Night Out in the City

The night was young, but Ikki and Meelo were already asleep, finally, and Mom and Dad were winding down for the evening. They knew that some nights she liked to come up here and stare at the stars, and they knew that eventually she would come to bed, sometimes after they had already fallen asleep. They knew too though that she would always wake up, bright and fresh for the new day. They trusted her, and she was glad to have that trust.

But from here, she could see the golden gleam of the pro-bending arena, its shining allure drawing her eyes again and again to its brightness. It used to be that she could ignore it, that she would stare at the stars instead, or else close her eyes and feel the breeze play across her face. But now that she knew Korra was in there, practically every night it seemed, the thought of going to the city simply wouldn’t shut up in her mind. She wanted to see Korra bend. She wanted to see the Fire Ferrets win. She wanted to see the people all around her, cheering and loud and happy like they seemed in the background screams on the radio.

Sometimes she would listen to that too, when the White Lotus sentries would sneak away to listen to a match when they were off duty.

But she knew, too, how her father felt about Korra’s shenanigans. How, if she hadn’t come back home by a certain time, he would start pacing, wearing a path in the floor that had never been there before. Or how, when she came back with another scar in some crazy place, he would yell at her and mother her and scold her until even Mom was shaking her head in exasperation with her husband. It tore at her heart, to see her dad so wound up like this, always worrying about what trouble Korra would get into next, and trying his best to be patient with her, and taking his worry out on himself instead.

He’d been eating less, Jinora noticed the other day, and sleeping less too. It made Jinora angry, made her want to scream at Korra until she was blue in the face, and if that didn’t do the trick, then maybe blasting her into the ocean might. Jinora was used to being the oldest sibling, used to being mature and calm and controlled as a balance to her two crazy younger siblings. Korra didn’t know anything. She stormed in, it seemed, taking the oldest child spot from her, and then proceeded to act like a spoiled brat. It seemed no one really knew how to deal with her most days, but since her father was taking the high road, being calm and patient, Jinora was determined to do the same.

And, to be fair, she couldn’t help but admit, in some small, deep part of her, that she really admired Korra too. Korra the strong, the adventurous. Korra the determined and straight-forward, charging straight into the fray. Korra, the forthright in such a way that Jinora knew she could never be, even though sometimes she wished she could. 

Since Korra had joined the Fire Ferrets, she would come home every evening with a new story to tell. Sometimes it was a glorious victory, other times a crushing defeat, but it was always an entertaining story. Jinora had taken to daydreaming about them, in these nights alone. She thought about being an airbender on a team, revolutionizing the game, destroying every opponent. She thought about strategies, and what her team would be like, and what they would be called. 

It was these daydreams that made the pro-bending arena that much more attractive to her too. She wanted to watch Korra, and get caught up in the excitement of the crowd. But she also, in some ways, wanted to be Korra, in the middle of the fight, adrenaline pumping, mind racing, feet flying across the stage.

 _The night is still young,_ she thought, gripping her staff beside her. _I could still go tonight._ The light in her parent’s bedroom blinked off beneath her. She stood up, clicked her staff open, and took off.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Jinora landed directly in front of the pro-bending arena gates, twirling her staff closed as her feet touched the ground. There were still a few people around shuffling into the gates, so Jinora figured there must still be a game going on. Everyone seemed to be stopping at the gatekeeper first before moving inside, so she walked there first.

“Hello. I’d like to go inside and see the match please,” she asked, hoping this was the right thing to say.

“Dat’ll be five yuans, kiddo,” the gatekeeper smiled kindly at her.

Jinora frowned. “Umm, I don’t have any money. Sorry.”

“Den you can’t come in here,” the gatekeeper growled at her, shooing her away. “NEXT!”

Jinora shuffled her feet nervously, unsure of where to go or what to do. She walked out of the line so the next person could go, but still stared dolefully at the arena, shining like a bright, golden candy, even from this close. 

_This was your great adventure?_ she thought. _You came all the way out here for this? And now you’re going to go home like a baby and cry and never leave your stupid island again?_

Jinora frowned, her face set in grim determination. Snapping her glider open against the ground, she took off, flying higher than she ever had before. Tears stung in her eyes as a sharp, biting wind blew past her face. She didn’t know where she was going, but anywhere was better than home right now.

 _What is wrong with me?_ The thought was a poisonous whisper, dragging at her mind. _How could Korra do it and I couldn’t? What did I do wrong? And what’s so freaking special about being the blasted Avatar anyway?_ She closed her eyes, squeezing several more drops of tears out, and shook her head violently, trying to dislodge the thought from her mind, without much success.

Jinora didn’t notice that her flying was starting to falter until her glider passed inches above Fire Lord Zuko’s statue, barely making it past without bursting into flame from the fire in the statue’s hand. With a shriek, she pushed herself straight upward, curving in an arc until she was shooting downward again, desperately trying to circle to a stop. But the ground was coming towards her way too fast, and in seconds she was careening to a stop, heels-first on the cold stone ground. Losing all momentum, she collapsed on her butt, her glider tangled awkwardly above her head.

Then the tears really did come.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Skoochy knew the kids who liked to come out here to beg at night. He also knew the thugs who liked to have more free labor around their headquarters, and labor don’t come cheaper than an orphan on the street. 

He knew what happened to those kids too.

So every night, he would patrol the streets and the central square, looking for the kids who would come out when the daylight hours would have them arrested. Some of the kids he’d give a yuan. Others, especially the younger ones, he’d give a pat on the head and a smile. 

But he would tell each and every single one of them of a place, not too far from here, where there was bread enough for all of them, and a warm bed they could crawl into whenever they wanted. “It’s safe from the triads,” he’d say, “too far from city center to be part of any turf wars.”

He’d say, “You can be part of our family there.”

Most of the kids didn’t believe him. They’d spit on him, or glare at him, or clutch their single yuan and turn their back on him. This was understandable. These kids had been promised lots of things before, he was sure. The city was full of wanna-be entrepreneurs looking to find a way to make use of an orphan’s money making schemes without caring for the orphans themselves. Sometimes, they even hired other orphans to do the recruiting, paying a hefty amount of yuans once and only once to send them out into the night finding new kids to be willing workers. 

It was a hard time, getting out of one of those schemes, and those kids were sure never to go back. Even if they starved because of it. 

But those that followed Skoochy knew what it meant to be in a family. They also knew what it meant to work for the food on their table, instead of begging on the street. Skoochy had connections. He didn’t have respect so much as a grudging alliance with several of the more reputable businessmen in town, that he would find them labor, so long as they treated his kids well enough. It wasn’t the best solution, but it worked.

And every night, the gang would gather in his self-proclaimed Skooch-Motel, an old Cabbage Corps factory that had shut down years ago when the satomobiles started rolling down the streets, and the Council still didn’t know what to do with the building or the grounds. There they would eat and bicker and laugh, until they would curl up in their ratty blankets and bug-ravished mattresses. 

It wasn’t the best solution, but it worked. And Skoochy was determined to keep looking for new kids to bring into his little Skooch-Motel, if that meant he could keep someone else from going through the same thing he had. 

Which is why he was just rounding the corner onto the central square when a weirdly-shaped, huge, orange bird thing dropped straight to the ground. With a near-silent gasp, he threw his back to the wall, just barely peeking out from behind the corner to inspect this odd thing which certainly didn’t belong in _his_ city.

Then he saw the bird collapse into the shape of a rather small girl with a glider thing over her back and head, completely still but for the erratic shaking of her shoulders.

The girl was _crying!_

Skoochy gulped, leaning back against the wall. _The girl is bloody crying!_ he thought, almost incredulously. He had no idea what to do. Girls didn’t cry, not in his city, and most certainly not at night! That was a good way to get yourself killed, or worse.

Voices down the street drew Skoochy’s attention. They were drunken and slurred, intermittently laughing hysterically and yelling bloody murder. Skoochy peered down the street, barely making out the blue coat of a waterbender from the Triple Threat Triads.

 _Shady Shin. Crap!_ Skoochy glanced around the corner again. Yep, the girl was still there, still crying. _Does she never stop?! The Triads will see her any minute! She’ll be dead meat!_

He looked around desperately for something to distract the girl, or distract the Triads, anything so he wouldn’t be witnessing a kidnapping tonight. Finding a small pebble a couple feet away from him, he dashed toward it, grabbed it and threw it as hard as he could towards the girl. It clattered to the ground, several feet away from her, but loud enough that she stopped her crying and looked up, searching for the disturbance.

Skoochy shrank against the shadows at the back of the building, hoping against hope that they would keep him hidden from the Triads who were approaching slowly, but still much too fast for his liking. Looking around, he saw the girl stand up and start walking towards the rock he had thrown, peering at it curiously. The closer she came to the pebble, the closer she was to the corner where Skoochy was hidden, and was therefore also closer to where the Triads were approaching from the other street. Any minute now they’d be able to see her…and she…

 _Has no idea what’s coming._ Skoochy realized this almost at the same instant as the scrawny fire bender next to Shady Shin gave a startled hiccup-yelp, and lurched towards Skoochy’s hiding spot. Darting out from the shadows, he raced towards the girl, whose look of shock was replaced by one of indignant pain as Skoochy grabbed her wrist and forcibly dragged her back into the square.

“Ow! Hey! Where are you taking me!?” her screams reverberated against the walls around them, jarring in the silent night. 

“Shut your yapper, girlie, or I’ll throw you to the Triads myself!” Skoochy hissed at the girl. Not that he would, but he was getting desperate, and she needed to understand the danger they were both in.

The girl drew back in shock, her face tight and fearful. “The…the Triads?” she whispered, and even more quietly, “You wouldn’t…”

“No, but it ain't gonna matter if they catch us! RUN!” He took off, and the girl followed close behind him, feet tapping heavily on the stone.

Skoochy knew his way through these alleyways around the square pretty well, but they were dangerous and crawling with Triads from all sorts of gangs this time of night, and a safe place was a long way away. 

The only safe place he could think of, right now, was a dead-end alley. If they could get in there without the Triads seeing or hearing them, they might still be able to make it out of this place alive. Or so he hoped. His feet were flying like mad, adrenaline racing through him, but the girl fell further and further behind, and while the Triads were nowhere near as fast as the two of them, they still hadn’t lost sight of them.

“Come on!” he yelled, hoping the girl had an extra burst of speed in her somewhere. Apparently, she did, because moments later she caught up to him, as they rounded a corner, then another, back and forth from street to tinier street.

Finally, they reached the particular dead-end alleyway Skoochy thought would protect them. Standing at the entrance, he ushered the girl inside, looking around to see if the Triads had still followed them. He couldn’t see them anywhere, but he could still hear their voices, distant and angry-sounding. Not good.

He went back to the corner of the alleyway, where the girl had collapsed against the wall and was panting heavily.

“Shh, can’t you keep it down?!” Her breathing was louder than anything else on the whole street. If the Triads came close, they’d be sure to hear her. 

The girl gulped, and tried to silence her breathing, but it was apparent her body was having none of it, as a few seconds later, she drew in a heavy, raking gasp, as loud as a scream on the silent street.

“I hear them! They’ve gotta be this way!” one of the Triads shouted. 

“Curses!” Skoochy cursed under his breath, then turned to grab the girl by the wrist, ready to drag her away again if necessary.

“Wait!” she said, gripping onto her staff and lifting herself up by it. “Grab hold of me, tightly!”

“Wha…?”

“Just do it!”

Skoochy didn’t want to have anything to do with this. He wanted to run. But the girl’s face was very determined, and it was doubtful they’d be able to run out of here anyway. He could tell by the voices that the Triads were almost upon them. Awkwardly, he reached out and attached his arms around the girl’s neck, clinging to her shoulders.

“When I say jump…

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Jump,” Jinora said, gripping her staff tightly in her right hand, and clinging to the boy with her left. She hoped this would work. She prayed to all the spirits in the five seconds before the Triads appeared around the corner that they would give her strength. Then, as soon as she could see the leer on their drunken faces, she made a fast, wide sweep with her staff, creating a wave of air that blasted both thugs several feet backwards. 

As they both struggled to get up, Jinora clicked her glider open, clinging onto it with both hands as the boy gripped onto her even tighter.

“JUMP!” she shouted, and the boy did, though his response was a little delayed compared to hers, which, combined with his odd weight, threw off her original trajectory. She quickly corrected with a blast of air, and shot straight upward, soaring above the rooftops, and then well above the top of the statue of Fire Lord Zuko. As her flight leveled, she could feel her glider veering towards the side of the boy, who was now clutching desperately for purchase on her shoulders and neck.

“We need to land on a rooftop nearby, and get you re-situated on the glider!” Jinora shouted over the roar of the wind. The boy only whimpered in reply, clearly not able to say anything more.

Jinora smiled, remember her being like this the first time her dad had taken her for a flight. Granted, the situation had been much more pleasant, and she was already atop the back of the glider when they started, but there was still a good five minutes where all she seemed to be able to do was clutch and cry and scream.

And then the wind took to her, as her dad would say in later years, regarding the instantaneous moment when she ceased crying and start to laugh, exuberant and wild as the wind passed all around them. Though this boy wasn’t an airbender, she was sure the wind would take to him too, soon enough.

Banking to the left, Jinora came to a slow and gentle stop on one of the lower rooftops in the slums outside the square. As soon as her feet touched down, the boy was more than happy to let go of her, leaning down and all but kissing the rooftop beneath his feet. Jinora left her glider open, and turned so her back was facing the boy.

“Come on. If you grab onto the back of this, flying will be much easier.”

“Nuh-uh,” the boy shook his head emphatically. “I’m not flying, never again, no way.”

Jinora sighed, dragging all the world-weariness of an oldest sibling into that one, single sound. “Then how do you expect to escape the Triads?” she asked.

“I’ll find my own way home. I always manage somehow,” the boy grumbled.

“Or you could just fly. Trust me, it’ll be a lot easier to fly with you on my back than on my side. It’ll balance better, and you won’t feel quite so heavy.”

“Are you sure?” he asked warily, eyes cautious.

“Yes! Now get on, before they see us up here!”

The boy took one tentative step forward, then another. His hands circled the cross-beam of the glider, then gripped it tightly. Stepping closer to the base of the glider, he pressed his face against the main beam of it.

“You ready?” Jinora asked. The boy simply moaned in response. “I’ll take that as a yes.”

“JUMP!”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

_“Jump!” she had said._

And then they were flying. Really…flying. Skoochy clung to cross-beam of the glider for dear life, praying silently to all the spirits he could think of that he wouldn’t somehow fall and crash to his death. The wind rushed all around them, tugging at his hair and the back of his shirt. 

“It’s okay, you can look around!” the girl shouted above the roar of the wind. Skoochy opened his eyes, then immediately shut them again as the cold air stung his eyeballs, drawing tears to the corners of his eyelids.

“I can’t!” he screamed. “It’s too high up, I’m going to fall! Just…put me down already!” Just getting the words out was a struggle, but he felt better for saying it aloud, instead of listening to the whimpering in his mind. 

“Why?” the girl asked. “The view is beautiful from up here! I can’t believe how amazing this city is!” She laughed, a high, gentle laugh that filled the air around them.

Skoochy grumbled in resentment, he didn’t think his pride could take any more beatings tonight. Some girl…saving his life, and then FLYING like it was no big deal, like it was, in some incomprehensible way, fun? Slowly, Skoochy carefully opened his eyes one after another, turning his face away from the wind as best he could.

“Woah…” the breath gasped out of him in a slow, awe-filled sigh. The girl was right, everything in the city below him seemed beautiful, sparkling, even inviting, though he knew intimately the dark that settled over everything on the ground, and how unwelcome the streets could feel most of the time. Here though, it seemed all his worries could just fall away beneath him, disappear as they floated through the sky.

The girl giggled again, apparently noticing Skoochy’s new-found interest in this view from the sky. “How do you like it?!” she called up to him, simultaneously angling her glider for a wide, sweeping arc above City Hall. Skoochy gripped on tighter to the glider, but this time he could sorta feel the natural lean and flow of the air around him, so he leaned into it, balancing his weight evenly on top of the glider. 

“I love it!” he grinned widely, his eyes devouring the sights all around him. 

“You’re really getting the hang of this too. Seems like the wind has taken to you already!” 

“The wind has what?”

“Oh,” she giggled again. “It’s nothing, just an airbender thing. Don’t worry about it!” She finished her curve, swooping out of it into a slow ascent back into the darkened sky. 

_An airbender thing…she’s an airbender?!_ Skoochy knew that Air Temple Island existed, but he had never seen it, and he certainly hadn’t known that there were any legitimate airbenders there. As far as he knew, it was full of air acolytes, monks who wanted to live away from the city and pursue their own lifestyle.

 _Of course I should have known,_ he realized belatedly. _This may be a pretty sweet glider, but it’s certainly no air-controlling machine. An airbender though…I wonder what else she can do?_

“What’s your name!” he asked, pressing his face to the main beam of the glider in order to hear her response.

“I’m Jinora! What’s your name?”

“Skoochy!” He usually followed his name with a long list of titles he had made up for himself as a play at pompousness that usually made him more endearing to older people and impressive to the kids younger than him. But, considering that he was now riding on the glider of one of the rarest benders in the entire world, the rest of his introduction fell somewhat flat in his mind.

“Skoochy…that’s a funny name. I’ll remember that!” Jinora said with a slight giggle. “Where do you wanna go next?!” she called out excitedly.

“Well, I sorta need to get back home. It’s at an old factory in the industrial area, near the shore. Could you take me there?”

“Sure, I can do that!” The glider swooped again, turning towards the direction of the industrial area on the other side of the city. Skoochy was going home…carried by the sky.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

It took a while to find precisely the right spot Skoochy was talking about, but Jinora found it eventually. Between her knowledge of the general areas of the city, and his knowledge of the specific streets near his place, it was only about half an hour later when they touched down outside the front of his little Skooch-Motel. 

The lights were off inside, but Skoochy knew as soon as he walked in, the whole gang of his would be up, worrying about where he had been and if he was hurt and who had nearly captured him this time. He didn’t mean to make them worry, but it was part of the life sometimes. There were nights when not coming back on time meant you weren’t coming back at all, and he was the only one who could keep them all together as well as he already had.

Skoochy stepped away from the glider and walked towards the door, hands shoved deep in his pockets.

“Hey,” Jinora called out behind him. He looked over his shoulder…she was still there, her glider was still open and ready to launch away at any second. But her face was intent, determined to speak. “Thanks for saving me earlier,” the words came out in a rush.

Skoochy scratched at the back of his head, his eyes suddenly finding the ground extremely interesting. “Thanks for uhh…saving me too. And for the ride. That was…that was really nice.” He glanced up just in time to see Jinora smile before she leaped upward, making a beeline for the Air Temple Island. He stood and watched, as he could still see her bright orange glider for several minutes after she flew away.

_Goodnight, Jinora._

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

**Author's Note:**

> Sorry these end up being more Skoochy than Jinora, I just find him really interesting, and I like looking at things from his point of view. I may try to balance it out more later, or not. Anyway, this is it, if this is going to be a oneshot, but what do you guys think? Should I continue?


End file.
